Course Offerings:
At least two sections of this course are offered each semester.
I taught two sections last semester; the course description below is for Fall 2009.
Professors Ossella-Durbal, and Broadbent also teach sections this year.
Course Description:
This course provides an introduction to the use of statistics. Topics include descriptive statistics, introductory probability, estimates and confidence intervals, hypothesis testing, regression, and time series analysis.
As a rule, meaningful statistical work is done on computers, and this course recognizes that fact. Computers will be used extensively. You should already be familiar with Excel, or a similar spreadsheet program. SPSS, a more specialized statistical program, will be introduced as well. And, while not all work will require a computer, a computer will always be available to you.
The topics of this course represent a powerful set of tools for learning about the world, both as a student here at IWU and in your future career. Recently, top seniors have done research projects on questions such as --
Economics -- Can we predict, ahead of time, which less-developed countries will default on their loans? Finance -- Can we infer, from price movements in the German stock market, how German business perceived reunification? Marketing -- Do theories from psychology, about how people will feel and act in different environments, apply to retail stores?
And graduates, in their careers, routinely face questions such as --
Auditing -- Are the company's books being kept properly? Economics -- If the Fed tightens credit, how will that affect our firm? Marketing -- Will a proposed new product be popular with our customers? Personnel -- How do the salaries of our male and female employees compare?
Statistical tools are useful for addressing these, and a great many other interesting questions, in almost any field.